I assumed the same. The local bank should have more accurate risk assessment for projects in that area and should be able to offer lower rates vs. the big bank

I assumed the same. The local bank should have more accurate risk assessment for projects in that area and should be able to offer lower rates vs. the big bank that has to deal with a larger number of unknown unknowns. But I can also see how this shifts from locality based knowledge to vertical knowledge of niches independent of locations which would favor larger / specialty banks